Bottelier

Bottelier was a small plantation of 60 hectares dating from 1757. It lies between Dominguito and Zuurzak and was called Bòtri in popular speech. It was formerly part of the plantation Zuurzak, was separated off as farmland, and during the 17th and 18th centuries was sold under the name Lange or Grote Tuyn (Long or Great Garden).

In 1787 Bottelier came into the possession of Nicolas Hansen, a German Protestant who owned an inn outside the city gate. His profession probably gave rise to the later name (bottelier = butler/cellarman), which appeared during his lifetime as an alias of Groote or Lange Thuin. His widow later tried to sell the estate under the old name Groote Tuin, but the alias Bottelier has remained forever linked to this estate south of the Caracasbaaiweg.

Because of the economic slump the plantation was once sold for less than half of its purchase price: namely in 1843 for 900 pesos, whereas it had been bought in 1816 for 3,700 pesos.

But Bottelier later became a very modern enterprise for its time: it was one of the few plantations where American ploughs were used around 1850. The plough was unknown on Curaçao; all working of the soil was still done with the chapi (the sjap, i.e. the hoe).

Mixed agricultural farming was practised, and the plantation had the privilege of grazing livestock on "common pastures" (government lands) in the second half of the 18th century and also in the 19th century. Bottelier was further known as a supplier of well water.

Around 1850–1856 it was mainly bought as a country house and/or used for recreational purposes because of its location close to the city.

Plantation house

The sharp gables of the original plantation house probably dated from the 18th century. The house was rebuilt very often, was inhabited for years by an Arab owner, and was finally restored once more, but not in the traditional style.

Landhuis Bottelier was a popular place to go out among the hippie youth in the 1970s. The discotheque Yahabibi was located here, popular for its so-called blacklight parties with local beat bands of that time.

In the end the house, which stood next to the present cemetery, was demolished in 2006.

Since 1974 Bottelier has been known mainly as a cemetery with a chapel and aula (hall), while an upmarket villa park has now arisen on the hill in the west of the former plantation.

Sources

• M.A. Visman: De herkomst van onze streek- en plantagenamen (The origin of our regional and plantation names).
• W.E. Renkema: Het Curaçaose plantagebedrijf in de negentiende eeuw (The Curaçao plantation business in the nineteenth century).